4 km Traffic Jam In Mountains Of Manali, Tourists Stuck

Tourists and locals in Himachal Pradesh were stuck in a 4-km long traffic jam on Manali-Solang-Nalla route on Monday where snowfall has slowed down the vehicular movement.

"We have come here from Bengaluru to explore the mountains but there is too much traffic. We took a cab... but then ended up walking. We also faced difficulty in finding hotel rooms," Supriya, a tourist, told news agency ANI. 

Another tourist, travelling with his friends, said they hired a cab for Rs 1,200 but ended up walking with their luggage. "There is too much traffic. Our cab was stuck in jam and we had to get down," he told ANI. 

Kullu valley in Himachal is home to popular hill stations - Kullu and Manali.

Manali received its first snowfall of the season about two weeks ago and tourist footfall to the hill town has increased since then. Hills overlooking Manali like Gulaba, Solang and Kothi have been experiencing moderate snow. Kalpa in Kinnaur district and Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti have also experienced snowfall.

As cold wave continues to sweep north India, Manali recorded a maximum temperature of 10.8 degrees Celsius, according to the weather office.

While Kalpa in Kinnaur district registered a low of minus 2.9 degrees Celsius, Manali and Bhuntar in Kullu shivered at minus 3 and minus 0.8 degrees Celsius respectively, said Shimla Meteorological Centre Director Manmohan Singh.

Delhi - where the minimum temperature settled at 8.3 degrees Celsius on Monday- is likely to witness the longest cold spell in December after 1997, weather office has predicted.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)